The Huffington Post Canada’s media requests to other agencies inquiring about the Trudeau protest also made it back to the PMO, which has been badly shaken by a Senate expense scandal that claimed former chief of staff Nigel Wright.

HuffPost has learned the PMO assembled several Conservative party interns and staff to draw up signs mocking Trudeau after being tipped off by Twitter that the Liberal leader planned to announce new measures to increase transparency in the House of Commons outside Parliament near the Centennial Flame. Holding signs quoting Tory attack ads, the young Conservatives stood behind Trudeau’s podium during his televised speech.

Liberal party researchers and journalists identified several participants in the demonstration — among them Maddy Stieva, Carl-Olivier Rouleau, Stav Nitka, Nick Young, James Mitchell and Grant Dingwall. None returned messages requesting comment.

Jenni Byrne, the Conservative party’s director of political operations who has been playing a more active role within the PMO since Wright resigned in May, instructed the interns not to speak to HuffPost.

Requests for information about the June 5 event sent to the RCMP and Heritage Canada appear to have been passed to the PMO. When asked if it is standard operating procedure for the national police force to send media requests to the Prime Minister’s Office, Sergeant Julie Gagnon said “we do not discuss media calls with PMO.” She had no explanation for how the PMO staff would have known about the request.

Inquiries about permits were directed to Heritage Canada. HuffPost asked the department whether a permit was required to demonstrate on the Hill, whether the participants had a permit and, if there was a permit, to whom it was issued. The department refused to answer, other than saying: “Individuals and groups are welcome to use Parliament Hill to make their views known.”

The departmental spokesperson requested anonymity. “ I don’t want my name online for 10 years tied to this,” the civil servant said.

The RCMP told HuffPost the group did not have a permit. “Although one is not mandatory, it is encouraged as it assists with the planning for a safe event,” the force said. The RCMP said that when they approached the group and informed them about the process to get a permit, the demonstrators left on their own.

The competitive Conservative internship is open to party members enrolled in a post-secondary institution. In order to apply, the students must receive a recommendation from an MP, a senator or someone highly ranked in the party and must write essays on such topics as: “What do you think the biggest success of the Harper Government has been over the last six years?” and “Who is the political figure you admire most and why?” (Interns joke that the right answer to that question is Stephen Harper).

Among those taking part in the fake protest were:

- Maddy Stieva: According to a cached copy of her LinkedIn profile, Stieva is, since May, a Conservative Party of Canada summer intern. She lists her location as Caledonia, Ont., and writes that she is student at McMaster University. She previously worked at Starbucks and spent eight months working as secretary treasurer for the Ontario PC Youth Association.

- Nick Young: According to Conservative party documents, Young is a party staffer responsible for political operations in Ontario.

- James Mitchell: Like Young, Mitchell works at the Conservative party headquarters in Ottawa, according to Conservative party documents, and is in charge of political operations for Western Canada and the Northern Territories.

- Grant Dingwall: A former Conservative staffer on the Hill between 2008 and 2011, Dingwall left to work at Queen’s Park for Progressive Conservative MPP Rob Milligan. On his LinkedIn profile he writes that he’s a “communications professional looking for new opportunities.”

- Carl-Olivier Rouleau: The Conservative party intern is pictured on his Facebook profile with Defence Minister Peter MacKay. Rouleau describes himself as the president of the Conservative Club at the Université de Montréal. He says on his LinkedIn profile that he an intern with the Conservative Research Group this summer.

Rouleau is referring to the government’s caucus research bureau, the Conservative Resource Group (CRG). It receives $2,484,368 annually in public funds for employee salaries, contracts, office supplies and translation services according to the latest figures published in April.

Despite receiving money from taxpayers, “National Caucus expenses are not subject to public disclosure,” according to rules MPs have set for themselves. Every recognized party receives funds to operate a research bureau (the NDP received $2,363,187 and the Liberals $1,177,425). They are designed to assist MPs with their parliamentary duties “wherever performed and whether or not performed in a partisan manner.”

The research bureaus are not, however, supposed to fund “activities related to the administration, organization and internal communications of a political party” or activities designed, in the context of an election “to support or oppose a political party or an individual candidate.”

The Conservative internship pays students $1,700 a month and offers experience in the office of an MP or minister as well as experience working at Conservative party headquarters or for its caucus research bureau. Interns regularly hear from guest lecturers and meet Tory insiders. It is often the first step to finding full-time work on Parliament Hill.

Conservative party spokesman Fred DeLorey told HuffPost interns are paid by their specific employer. “Interns who spend the summer in ministers’ offices don't engage in partisan political activities; those who work for the Conservative party or CRG do,” he said.

The Liberal whip office recently met with Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers, the man responsible for security on Parliament, and asked him to look into the Tories’ use of interns to demonstrate against Trudeau.

Vince MacNeil, a spokesman for the Liberal whip office, said his party wants to work in an environment of mutual respect.

“It’s fine to disagree about public policy, but we don’t think mounting fake protests of each others’ media availabilities does any good for anyone,” he said.

Parliament’s rules state that MPs are supposed to be free from “obstruction, interference, intimidation and molestation” in the carrying out of their duties on the Hill.

But the archaic rule states that those privileges are reserved for inside the House of Commons and during travels to and from the chamber, said Heather Bradley, a spokeswoman for Speaker Andrew Scheer. It is not clear whether Trudeau’s outdoor press conference would be covered under the rule.

In 1998, Logan Day, a Reform party staffer and the son of Stockwell Day, was banned from the Commons foyer for a year after he draped a Canadian flag over the shoulders of Bloc Québécois MP Suzanne Tremblay.

According to news reports at the time, Day said the ban was a “penalty” imposed by then speaker Gilbert Parent but overseen by Reform party whip Chuck Strahl.

Because there was no public ruling about the incident, it’s unclear what rule Day was seen to have violated.

As for what, if anything, will happen with the Trudeau protest and the young Conservatives, the Sergeant-at-Arms will look into the matter and communicate with the Liberal whip, Bradley said. The Liberals’ MacNeil wasn’t sure if anything would come of it.

Eleven-month-old Justin Trudeau, urged on by his mother Margaret Trudeau, crawls up the steps of an aircraft in Ottawa Dec. 5, 1972 to meet his father, then-prime minister, Pierre Trudeau on his return from Britain.

Pierre Trudeau is saluted by RCMP Officer as he carries son Justin to Rideau Hall in 1973. Justin Trudeau teared up when he was presented with a framed copy while visiting Loyalist College in 2013.

Alexandre (Sacha) Trudeau delivers a right hook to his older brother Justin during a play fight in 1980 at Ottawa airport as the boys await a flight with the return of their father, then-prime minister, Pierre Trudeau. Nobody was injured. Justin was born in 1971 and Sacha in 1973 - both on Christmas day.

It was a big day for Dad, but a long day for the three Trudeau children. Left to right, Justin, Michel and Alexandre (Sacha) Trudeau attended the swearing in ceremonies of their father Pierre Elliott Trudeau as Prime Minister March 3, 1980 at Government House.

Then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau, left, watches as his 11-year-old son Justin swings on a chain during a tour of an old fort in the Omani town of Nizwa Dec. 2, 1983. Trudeau and Justin spent the day visiting the towns of Jebel and Nizwa 165 kilometres south of Muscat.

Then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau's 11-year-old son Justin jumps off an old cannon while visiting a fort along with his father in the Omani town of Nizwa and Jebel.

Justin Trudeau and friend Mathieu Walker in the Sahara desert in October, 1994.

Justin Trudeau and friend Mathieu Walker in the Sahara desert in October, 1994.

Justin Trudeau with friends Mathieu Walker and Allen Steverman in Shanghai in 1994.

Justin Trudeau with friends Mathieu Walker (left) and Allen Steverman (centre) at the Great Wall of China in 1994.

Former prime minister Pierre Trudeau (L), his son, Alexandre (Sacha), ex-wife Margaret Kemper and son Justin weep as they leave a memorial service for their son Michel in Montreal in 1998. Michel Trudeau drowned after being swept into a lake during an avalanche in British Columbia.

Justin (left) and Alexandre (Sacha) Trudeau lean out of the funeral train to show appreciation to mourners who turned out to pay their respects to former prime minister Pierre Trudeau in Dorval, Que., Monday Oct. 2, 2000. Trudeau's casket was moved from Ottawa to Montreal for a state funeral. ()

Justin Trudeau is consoled by his mother Margaret after reading the eulogy for his father, former prime minister Pierre Trudeau during his state funeral in Montreal, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2000.

Justin Trudeau delivers a eulogy for his late father Pierre Trudeau during the state funeral for the former prime minister at the Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2000. Trudeau first caught the public heartstrings in October 2000, when he delivered a moving, deeply felt eulogy for his legendary father, weaving an emotional spell from inside the cavernous Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal.

Justin Trudeau breaks down on his father's casket after reading the eulogy during the state funeral for former prime minister Pierre Trudeau Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2000 in Montreal.

Justin Trudeau gives a rose to a young girl, one of thousands of mourners who stood outside Notre-Dame Basillica in Montreal Tuesday, October 3, 2000 during a state funeral for his father, former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau.

An enthusiastic Justin Trudeau talks to reporters during a news conference to promote avalanche awareness in West Vancouver Thursday Jan. 25, 2001.

Justin Trudeau stands at the base of a mountain near the evidence of a controlled avalanche at Lake Louise, Alberta, Friday January 12, 2002.

Trudeau with adviser and friend Gerald Butts in July 2003 at Virginia Falls, Nahanni National Park Reserve in the Northwest Territories.

Justin Trudeau carves through a gate during a celebrity slalom race in Mont Tremblant, Que. Friday, Dec. 12, 2003. Trudeau was taking part in a 24-hour ski-a-thon for charity organized by Jacques Villeneuve and Villeneuve's manager Craig Pollock.

Justin Trudeau spoke to students as Sisler High School about the benefits of joining the Katimavik Project on March 9, 2004

Justin Trudeau, son of the late prime minister Pierre Trudeau, leaves with his new bride Sophie Gregoire in his father's 1959 Mercedes 300 SEL after their marriage ceremony in Montreal Saturday, May 28, 2005.

Sophie Gregoire waves to the crowd as she arrives for her wedding to Justin Trudeau, son of the late prime minister Pierre Trudeau, in Montreal Saturday, May 28, 2005.

Then-leadership candidate Stéphane Dion crosses paths with Justin Trudeau, a supporter of Gerard Kennedy, at the Liberal Leadership Convention on Nov. 30, 2006 in Montreal. The day after he won the leadership, Dion told Trudeau he needed his help and urged him to run.

Justin Trudeau poses in London, Ont., on Tuesday, June 5, 2007 with a group of youth who participated in the Katimavik national youth service program that he has been actively involved in. The funny faces came from a request by a parent taking a photograph.

Justin Trudeau raises his arms in victory after being voted in as the Liberal representative in Montreal's Papineau riding, on April 29, 2007.

Justin Trudeau, then Liberal candidate for the riding of Papineau, on the campaign trail with his mother, Margaret, in Montreal on Sept. 23, 2008. Trudeau snatched the riding from the Bloc Québécois by 1,189 votes.

Liberal Justin Trudeau, then a candidate in the riding of Papineau, on the campaign trail in Montreal, Tuesday Sept. 23, 2008 with his mother, Margaret.

Liberal MP Justin Trudeau trims the end of Senator Patrick Brazeau's pony tail out of respect in the Foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill Ottawa, Monday April 2, 2012.

Liberal MP Justin Trudeau announces he will seek the leadership of the party at a news conference, Tuesday, October 2, 2012 in Montreal.

Liberal MP Justin Trudeau waves to the crowd of supporters as he holds his son Xavier and his wife Sophie Gregoire holds their daughter Ella-Grace after announcing he will seek the leadership of the party Tuesday, October 2, 2012 in Montreal.

Justin Trudeau, right, chats to his chief advisor Gerald Butts after taking part in the the Liberal leadership debate in Mississauga, Ont., on Saturday, February 16, 2013.

Marc Garneau, left, and Justin Trudeau take part in the Liberal leadership debate in Mississauga, Ont., on Feb. 16, 2013.